I got into NFTs about two years ago; I had just turned 18 and lost all my savings options trading... then I won an NFT, and everything changed. Three months after I got my first NFT, I made my first generative art buy... a Fidenza for 6eth, on July 4th, 2021. This was my first taste of generative art, and I ended up trading the Fidenza in a package to acquire a CryptoPunk! Throughout 2021 I was an active trader, flipper, and collector on ETH, focusing on PFPs, Photography, and Generative Art. Unfortunately, just 2 short months after I traded away my Fidenza, they hit a 200eth floor...

You may be wondering why this is relevant or important. For two reasons, I first wanted to introduce myself to the community; I have been lurking in Price Discussion in the Fxhash discord with occasional chats and have already had some significant interactions and trades with collectors! The Fxhash community sharply reminds me of ArtBlocks and ETH in general before the bull run of 2021; there was a sense of kindness, humor, and trust. That is all present within the Fxhash community today. I am grateful to have been welcomed in with open arms into the community.

Secondly, I changed my strategy coming into Tezos and Fxhash. Back on ETH, I would have highly desirable assets, such as a BAYC, Fidenza, Squiggle, etc., but I would also trade down into a mix of assets, basically going high risk-high reward. In my head, the collections at 0.1eth could double faster than collections at 2eth. Welp. I was wrong. This was, in fact, the wrong strategy. So I developed a new strategy for collecting works on Fxhash, which I wanted to share with you today. After getting burned on ETH by my stupid decisions, I wanted to approach collecting on Fxhash with care and a systematic approach. I was going to focus on securing grail collections and grail artists.

"Grail" gets used often, but who really knows what it means? Everyone has a different definition of "grail" I like to think about it as these artists are secured into Fxhash and generative art history. These grail artists will not only succeed on Fxhash but also thrive on Artblocks. Grail collections are what I define as wishlist collections for new entrants, these are the collections with all the eyes on them. For example "Bugged Forest" by Zancan is a grail collection since there are 1,000 pieces by one of the biggest Fxhash generative artists, it is a goal for a lot of collectors to eventually trade up into a Bugged Forest.

I joined the Tezos ecosystem about four months ago, and I was able to get to my ultimate Fxhash grail, which was a "Dragon" by William Mapan.

Here is my approach...

1. The Art

2. The Artist

3. The Stats

Art is the first and most important thing I look at when deciding whether or not to collect something. Not only do I have to like it, but I also think about whether it fits other people's tastes. Would I be happy with owning the art even if it is worth $0? Does the art stand out? Is it different? Toccata is a collection that immediately stood out to me...

The artist is the next thing I tend to look at. Who are they? What's their background? How long have they been coding? Have they done any exhibits? Are they active on Twitter and within the community? When I collect art from an investment pov, I put a lot of emphasis on the artist's cause. Ultimately, they are the driving factor.

And then third, it's the numbers. How much supply is out there from all their collections combined? Who are the collectors in the project, and which ones own the most? What is the supply distribution like? How many are listed? What is the volume like? Etc...

I believe it is vital to look at the whole picture before collecting something. Collectors, supply distribution, and % listed all significantly impact a collection's current and future performance.

I already wrote too much, but I still want to do a mini-curation. I like themes.

Elevation by Andreas Rau is a great collection. Visually pleasing, with significant variation within the collection itself. Andreas also has some awe-inspiring collections already under his belt, such as Toccata and Loom; these seem somewhat undervalued compared to what I believe they will be worth in a few months from now.

Disclosure: I own 0 Elevations at the moment but do hold a Toccata.

Henge by Aranda\Lasch is a collection recently brought to my attention by a couple of collectors. They are also behind "Primitives" on Artblocks (1.5eth) floor. Henge is a beautiful project meant to exhibit " circular megalithic structures of the prehistoric age. It is a work of historical fiction where these stone assemblies, achieved through herculean efforts of stacking, aligning, and balancing immense chiseled rocks, are reimagined within an alternate universe of algorithmic possibility.". This is also a Tender collab project... If you haven't looked into this collection yet, consider this your sign.

Disclosure: I swept 3-4 of these last week! I vaulted two.

Piter Pasma is in a league of his own, "Geomorphisim" is an exploration of rock structures as well but with a completely different output. I have heard a few collectors have been fascinated by watching them render. I personally prefer the aesthetic of his "Industrial Devolution" and "Hypergiraffe" collections! Piter is definitely someone to keep an eye on throughout the year.

Disclosure: I own a Hypergiraffe but no other Piter pieces. Definitely feel underexposed to his talent.

Hevey is also a Fxhash "heavyweight" with "Sequence", "Dencity" and "Trasiedoc" being some of his more iconic works. "Dencity" was one of the first collections I bought on Fxhash. There is something about them that is so appealing and attractive.. take this as an example; for the past few months, I have told my friend about Fxhash and how he should check it out. Fast forward to a week ago, and I sent him a link to a Dencity; he immediately was hooked and bought one less than minutes later. I also love that this is a larger collection of 999, meaning there is more of a network effect among collectors and the community. I have my eyes on a grail Dencity so I listed the two I own.

Disclosure: I have two Dencitys listed.

Where do I start... so I love this collection. It is so relaxing and calming when I browse the different variations. It is still out of reach in my current collection, but it is rapidly moving up my wish list. Lunarean is a really special artist, and I am a fan of all of his collections, yet an owner of none. I highly recommend exploring his different collections and observing the evolution of his collections since joining Fxhash.

Disclosure: I own 0 Lunarean... but really want to.

Southern Gothic by Willard is very out of the ordinary when you compare the visual style to other collections and artists. From the moment I came across his collections, he stood out... and over this last month, he has made waves with his Fxhash collections doing a 5x+ and his SuperRare mints selling for ATH. He also just concluded an ETH airdrop for collectors that own at least one "Southern Gothic" and one "Ordinary Places."

Disclosure: I own 1 piece from both collections.

Conclusion

These collections somehow fit into the same "category" when I curated this article. I genuinely believe in the talent mentioned in this article, and the art itself is insane. None of this is to be financial advice, so I would love for this to be a discovery tool to push you to learn more about these collections and artists. Fxhash has had some crazy volume and activity for the last month; I am keeping an eye on everything but Tezos being at a $1 seems to have opened up Fxhash to more art buyers; I also have seen more ETH collectors being onboarded, and collecting from Objkt and Fxhash. This is something that I expect to continue this year.

I hope you enjoyed reading this!